Malia Brost fuels Hawaii Prep’s sixth state title

Hawaii Prep's Malia Brost (17), second from left, was embraced by midfielder Kahele Walsh (9) after winning the D-II state title on Saturday night. Photo by Jamm Aquino/Star-Advertiser.

Soccer fans on the Big Island already knew what Malia Brost could do.

That’s why they were yelling, “Curve it, curve it in,” when Brost lined up for a free kick in the first half at an extremely bad angle.

Brost placed the ball about five yards from the end line and about 10 yards from the flag in the deep right corner.

Sure enough, she did what the fans were calling for. She left-footed a bender into the top left corner.

Boom!! That put Hawaii Prep up by two goals and Ka Makani was on its way to a 4-0 victory over Kamehameha-Hawaii in the Division II final of The Queen’s Medical Center/HHSAA Girls Soccer State Championships on Saturday night at Waipio Peninsula Soccer Stadium.

If you’re counting, that’s six D-II state titles in a row for the small private school in Waimea on the Big Isle. It’s also the third time in four years that Ka Makani vanquished their Hawaii island rival Warriors in the final match.

In addition, it’s the second year in a row that Hawaii Prep prevailed despite being unseeded. Both years, Ka Makani placed second to Kamehameha-Hawaii in the BIIF before coming through when it mattered most at the very end of the season.

Brost ended up scoring three goals in the final, including another one from almost the same spot as the bender from the deep right corner. This time, she started it with a corner kick tap to Angela Cipriano, who gave it right back to Brost, who then unleased another strike to the top far corner.
Hawaii Prep’s Malia Brost (17) headed the ball during the first half of the D-II state title game on Saturday. Photo by Jamm Aquino/Star-Advertiser.

Brost’s other goal, the first of the three, gave Hawaii Prep a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute. That one came on a 35-yard free kick.

“Malia has always had an amazing shot,” said Ka Makani senior captain and striker Emi Higgins, who will play for Colorado School of Mines next season. “It’s been getting more and more potent as the season goes along and she peaked tonight. It was so perfect and I’m so happy for her.”

Higgins has been a part of four titles, and she was asked which one was the best.

“I don’t know,” she said. “They’re all so great. Freshman year was the most shocking. I had never had that feeling. Every year it has become more and more satisfying.”

Brost, a sophomore, will try to keep the string going over the next two years.

“It’s great to be a part of this team,” Brost said. “The friendship and the bond is so unique compared to any other team I’ve been on. We’re friends on and off the field. When we pass each other in school, we stop and talk. It’s really fun.

“We lose three seniors — Emi Higgins, Ella Martin and Zoe Ganley. They’re super hard workers and great players to have on your team, but I still think we can be a solid team and make it back to states.”

Brost and junior center midfielder/captain Jenna Perry talked about a 3-2 overtime loss Hawaii Prep suffered to Kamehameha-Hawaii in the BIIF title game Jan. 23 as a motivating factor.

“We learned from our mistakes and became stronger because of that,” Brost said. “We regained ourselves. We had a lot of team leadership activities. We also had a solid practice to bring us back together. We just learned from it, critiqued our mistakes and played harder because of it.”

Added Perry: (The championship) always feels amazing. We came into this game hungry. The BIIFs didn’t go our way. This game we just said, ‘We know what we can do. Let’s play like we’ve been playing.’ The first practice after losing the BIIF, we became dialed in and focused and playing like we never have before. Since that day, we’ve been playing our best soccer.”

Joshua Woodard, the coach of the Warriors (13-5), noticed Hawaii Prep looked stronger this time around.

“They came out with more energy this time,” he said. “They were hungry to try to get us back.”

Ka Makani coach Stephen Perry was asked if he has thought about moving his team up to Division I at some point.

“Not really,” he said. “We had 23 girls come out for soccer this year. The numbers are so small. We can compete on our island and can compete (against D-I teams) a game here and there.”

The Hawaii Prep boys team is now in Division I after multiple D-II titles.

COMMENTS

The Kicker
February 4, 2019 8:38 am

LOL, what a chicken statement for the coach to say that they are too small for D1 when the HPA boys had the courage to move up and have become the top boys team in the state. He himself said they had 23 girls come out for soccer. Ummm, I think 23 is more than enough to play D1. I’ve seen some D2 teams play games with only three girls on the bench.

The HPA girls dominated this tournament and they lose only 3 seniors. They say they don’t want to take a chance moving up to D1 next year and want to keep their streak going? That’s hard to respect. I really hope Iolani moves down to challenge this team.

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